Microsoft today released Windows 10 19H1 preview build 18290 for Insiders in the Fast ring. This new release follows build 18282 and increases the number of new features we can expect next year. Here is a look at what you can expect.

Windows 10 19H1 Preview Build 18290

Microsoft continues to improve the overall Fluent design in Windows 10 and in this build adds some improved cosmetic changes to the Start menu.

There is a new option in the Date & Time Settings in this build that allows you to manually sync your clock with the time server. This has been a highly requested feature, mainly from admins who need to make sure systems are synced correctly.

This new build also sees improvements to the mic icon that will show you which device is using it. The search and Cortana experiences are being improved with an updated landing page. Windows Update notifications will be more noticeable with an orange indicator in the system tray alerting you to system restarts. And for those running Insider builds, you also get the latest new versions of Windows apps. In this version, the Mail & Calendar app will allow you to open your To-Do lists directly from the app.

In addition to the new features above, here is a look at the other overall improvements:

We fixed an issue resulting in PDFs opened in Microsoft Edge not displaying correctly (small, instead of using the entire space).

We fixed an issue resulting in mouse wheel scrolling in many UWP apps and XAML surfaces being unexpectedly fast in recent builds.

We’ve made some updates to the taskbar to reduce the number of times you may see the icons redraw. Most noticeably when interacting with the recycle bin, although in other scenarios as well.

Antivirus apps must run as a protected process to register with Windows and appear in the Windows Security app. If an AV app does not register, Windows Defender Antivirus will remain enabled.

We fixed an issue resulting in the System unexpectedly consuming a high amount of CPU for prolonged periods of time when enumerating Bluetooth devices.

We fixed an issue resulting in Cortana.Signals.dll crashing in the background.

We fixed an issue that caused Remote Desktop to show a black screen for some users. This same issue could also cause freezes over Remote Desktop when using VPN.

We fixed an issue resulting in mapped network drivers potentially displayed as Unavailable when using the net use command, and displaying a red X in File Explorer.

Improved compatibility of Narrator with Chrome.

Improved performance of Magnifier centered mouse mode.

We fixed an issue where the Pinyin IME would always show English mode in the taskbar, even when typing in Chinese in the previous flight.

We fixed an issue resulting in languages showing an unexpected “Unavailable input method” in their list of keyboards in Settings if you added the language via Language Settings in recent flights.

Thanks everyone who’s shared feedback about the new Japanese Microsoft IME introduced with Build 18272. For the moment the IME version will be returning to the one that shipped with the October 2018 Update while we take your feedback into consideration.

We’ve added support for LEDBAT in uploads to Delivery Optimization peers on the same LAN (behind the same NAT). Currently LEDBAT is only used by Delivery Optimization in uploads to Group or Internet peers. This feature should prevent congestion on the local network and allow peer-to-peer upload traffic to back off instantly when the network is utilized for higher priority traffic.

As always, remember this is still an early preview build and you should expect bugs and stability issues for users and developers alike. You don’t want to install Insider builds on your primary machine. Make sure to read the full blog post for all changes, known issues, and workarounds.